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Supreme Court Upholds Trump Travel Ban; No Sign of Reunifications at Detention Center; Prince William to Meet with Abbas in West Bank; Helsinki Eyed for Potential Trump-Putin Meeting; Sudan Spares Teen Bride's Life; Navy Divers Searching Flooded Thailand Cave; These Numbers Help Explain Trump's Travel Ban, And How It Could Play In November; Argentina Survive Scare Advance To Knockout; Maradona's Roller Coaster Of Emotions; Russian Pop Star Takes Video Jab At U.S. President. Aired 2-3a ET
Aired June 27, 2018 - 02:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): The Trump administration wins a major legal battle. The Supreme Court says the travel ban is constitutional. But critics say it's a betrayal of American values.
In the Mediterranean, a rescue ship full of migrants will finally dock after being stranded for days. We will hear from a lawmaker who spent the night on board that ship.
And later, a thriller at the World Cup, Argentina survive a scare to advance to the knockout round.
Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church and this is CNN NEWSROOM.
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CHURCH: Donald Trump is celebrating what he calls a tremendous victory for the American people. The U.S. Supreme Court voted 5-4 to uphold his travel ban. Protesters gathered outside the court in Washington, calling the travel ban bigoted and xenophobic. CNN's Kaitlan Collins begins our covering.
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KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President Trump triumphant today, declaring victory after the Supreme Court upheld his administration's travel ban with a 5-4 vote.
TRUMP: A tremendous success, a tremendous victory for the American people and for our Constitution. This is a great victory for our Constitution.
COLLINS (voice-over): After months of court battles, there was an air of vindication inside the West Wing.
TRUMP: The ruling shows that all the attacks from the media and the Democrat politicians are wrong and they turned out to be very wrong.
COLLINS (voice-over): The decision is seen as a major statement on presidential powers. Chief justice John Roberts arguing that Trump acted lawfully, writing, "The President of the United States possesses an extraordinary power to speak to his fellow citizens and on their behalf."
But Justice Sonia Sotomayor issuing a stinging rebuttal, quoting anti- Muslim statements Trump has made in the past and writing, "That holding erodes the foundational principles of religious tolerance that the court elsewhere has so emphatically protected."
TRUMP: Donald J. Trump is calling for a complete and total shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country's representatives can figure out what the hell is going on.
COLLINS (voice-over): The original travel ban was one of Trump's first policies in office. This is a much narrower version, after lower courts struck down the first two. The first caused widespread chaos at airports nationwide. The second version also faced challenges and expired in October.
The third and final version of the much debated ban, restricting injury from mostly Muslim nations, a measure Trump said was necessary for national security. It also prohibits travel by North Koreans and some Venezuelan officials. Senator Cory Booker blasting the ruling.
SEN. CORY BOOKER (D), N.J.: This is what I can say is, thank God, we are not a nation of tyranny because presidents tried multiple times and his efforts have been diluted by the court system and by good- meaning people, that he was not able to do what he wanted to do.
COLLINS (voice-over): The decision coming as the president's zero tolerance immigration policy has caused controversy on the southern border. Asked if he feels emboldened by the decision, Trump said this today.
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TRUMP: We had to find a system where you don't need thousands of judges sitting at a border.
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COLLINS: So it's clear the president feels justified in his hardline immigration policies in light of the Supreme Court's decision. Now it's still an open question how that will affect his policies going forward on the U.S.-Mexico border. But the president made clear what his desired immigration policy is during that meeting with lawmakers. He summed it up in just four words. Those were, "You can't come in." -- Kaitlan Collins, CNN, the White House.
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CHURCH: And a closer look now at the countries affected by this ban. It prevents entry to the U.S. from Somalia, Yemen, Libya and Iran as well as by many government officials of Venezuela with some exceptions.
It also bans visitors of any kind from North Korea and Syria, which would include refugees trying to flee the civil war there. Exceptions --
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SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: -- as I say, even on the local level for an ordinary refugee, they're looking to going to Europe, not to the United States, where things have been extremely difficult in any case -- Rosemary.
CHURCH: All right, Sam Kiley, many thanks to you, bringing reaction from the region. We appreciate it.
Well, a federal judge in California has ordered an end to most family separations at the border with Mexico. He is also telling the Trump administration to reunite children separated from their parents within a month or less. Family reunifications are not happening fast enough. The critics of the Trump administration's zero tolerance policy and senators called on the Health and Human Services secretary for answers.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How many parents have been told where their kids are?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, they all, that information is available for every parent. And we have actually deployed public health service officers to work with the ICE case managers to meet with all of those parents. We are progressing through them to help them fill out the reunification paperwork that they need for their background check and the confirmed parentage as well as to ensure that they make contact, they know where their child is, they make contact, get them on the phone, get them on Skype if that's available. We want to have every child and every parent connected and in a regular communication --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I asked twice how many parents were actually told where their kids are. You said they had access. And this is just, in my view, part of the rosy responses the American people have been getting and it sure doesn't line up with the first-hand accounts of parents that I hear from who desperately want to know where their kids are --
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- there's no reason why any parent would not know where their child is located. I could, at the stroke of -- at keystrokes, I've sat on the ORR portal with just basic keystrokes, within seconds, could find any child in our care for any parent.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Secretary, suffice it to say, portals are not part of the daily existence -- UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's why we have -- that's why we have case
managers and the 800 number.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'd like to hold the record open so you can tell me specifically, as of today, how many parents are told where their kids are.
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CHURCH: Government officials say there are 2,047 children in their care who are separated from their parents. That's only six fewer than a week ago. Nick Valencia is at the Port Isobel detention center in Texas.
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NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're outside the Port Isobel detention center. We want to be clear about something. This is where, on Friday, ICE officials told us that family reunifications would be happening.
If that is the case, we've seen no evidence of it. It's part of the ongoing issue here on the ground, mixed messages from the Trump administration and mass confusion, especially among those who are separated from their children.
It was earlier that I spoke to a mother named Janitza (ph), who says that she's been separated from their 6-year-old little girl since early June and hasn't been able to talk to her. But the 6-year old is too young to understand the family separation policy and blames her mother from abandoning her.
VALENCIA (voice-over): We're hearing these heartbreaking stories as a coalition of 18 attorneys general are filing a new lawsuit against the Trump administration. They're suing the Trump administration for, they say, constitutionally violating the due process rights of children and their parents.
They call the Trump administration's family separation policy, irrationally discriminatory.
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CHURCH: Our Nick Valencia reporting there.
And the lawsuit against zero tolerance argues the policy is cruel and unlawful. It asks the court to compel the government to reunite children with their parents.
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New York's government told CNN's Wolf Blitzer the states want to help care for the children while they're in custody.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ANDREW CUOMO, GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK: We're asking a federal district court to stop the federal government from this policy of separating families. Separately, what we're asking the federal government is, to the extent you have children in states, tell the states and let the states help provide services.
I mean, put the politics aside, Wolf. On a human level, you have children, who have been taken from their parents, they're in a country they never heard of, they're sent to a state that they can't find on a map.
Some of these children are in foster care homes. Some of them are discharged to family members, extended family members. Some of them were put in private foster homes. They have no services, no follow-up care, no help with language, no help getting into schools.
Let the states help. Instead, the federal government has put a gag order on the facilities that are receiving these children. I mean, that makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. So we're filing a lawsuit to stop the federal government from separating families, children from families. And second, we're asking the federal government in the interim, with the mess you created, at least let the states help rather than having these foster care agencies with a gag order.
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CHURCH: The lawsuit also argues the executive order that President Trump signed last week to end the separation policy does not apply to families already broken apart.
A Sudanese team bride escapes execution but while her life may have been spared, her ordeal is far from over. Reporting by CNN's Nima Elbagir brought international attention to this case and we will get the latest from her.
And we'll have a live report on day four of the search for 13 people missing in a cave in Thailand.
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CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone.
Well, Prince William is the first British royal to make an official visit to Israel. And in the coming hours he will be the first British royal to visit the West Bank; one day after holding talks with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he will meet with the Palestinian Authority President Abbas in Ramallah.
He also met Tuesday with the Israeli president, who asked him to deliver a message to Mr. Abbas.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're going to meet President Abbas I would like you to send him a message of peace and tell him it is about time. It is about time that we have to find together the way to build confidence, to build confidence is the first step to bringing to understanding we have to bring to an end the tragedy between us that goes along for more than 120 years.
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CHURCH: Prince William says he hopes peace in the region can be achieved and he said his visit Tuesday to Israel's Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial, where he laid a wreath, was profoundly moving.
President Trump's defense chief is in China amid increasingly strained relations between Beijing and Washington. U.S. Defense secretary James Mattis says he wants to talk with Chinese military and government officials on security issues.
And CNN's Will Ripley joins us now from Beijing, covering this story.
Will, what all is likely to come out of Defense Secretary Mattis' strategy talks in China?
What are the expectations here?
WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I think his primary goal here is to try to stabilize the relationship between the U.S. and China, Rosemary, because there's just been so much tension that's been building up as of late. You can kind of go down the list of things U.S. and China are upset with each other about.
While China did welcome President Trump's announcement they're going to suspend joint military exercises in South Korea, pretty much everything else happening right now, not very pleasing for Beijing.
You have the United States stepping up its freedom of navigation patrols in the South China Sea and promising to continue to challenge China, which is making territorial claims farther and farther from the mainland, locked in very bitter land disputes with many of its smaller neighbors.
The United States saying they will stand up for those smaller neighbors, sailing their warships near these artificial islands that China has been accused of building essentially permanent aircraft carriers on.
You have the fact that China was disinvited from the Rim Pac military exercises by the Pentagon after China landed a bomber on one of those artificial islands. You have these incidents of lasers being fired up from Chinese ships allegedly at American planes in the Pacific. Some 20 incidents have been reported in recent months.
And with all of this going, not to mention the fact the United States is selling weaponry to Taiwan, which angers Beijing, then you have Mattis also trying to convince China to continue working with the U.S. on North Korea at a time that North Korean-China relations seem to be getting better and better as relations with the U.S. are getting worse and worse, Rosemary.
And that's not even addressing the big headline of the moment, which is the trade issue, the trade war.
CHURCH: I wanted to talk about that because it is the first visit to China since 2014 of a U.S. Defense secretary and while logically he would be discussing defense and security matters, how likely is it that he would raise concerns about a trade war when he talks with China's officials?
RIPLEY: Well, I think they are going to have to talk about it because the White House has actually tied trade to national security. We're expecting an announcement any day now, some significant new restrictions on Chinese technology investment in the United States.
The White House is saying they're doing that to protect U.S. national security, accusing China of stealing sensitive technology for many years and saying they want to protect industries like robotics and aerospace and electric cars, things China has pledged to become a global leader by 2025, the United States saying they're not going to do that with American technology.
And then, of course, there's $50 billion in tariffs that are due to kick in next month that Beijing has vowed to retaliate there. And the Pentagon has actually labeled China a strategic competitor. So it's so complicated because you have all these Defense issues bubbling and then you have economic and trade issues also creating tension between Washington and Beijing, at a time that they really do need to work together closely on North Korea if they want to achieve denuclearization, which has been a shared goal, stated by both countries.
CHURCH: All right, many thanks to our Will Ripley, joining us live there from Beijing.
Some former intelligence officials are worried ahead of a potential meeting between the U.S. president and his Russian counterpart. They're concerned because Donald Trump relies more on his gut instincts and less on preparation.
Vladimir Putin, on the other hand, likes to have the psychological upper hand. The two could sit down together in Finland next month. And our Brian Todd --
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CHURCH: -- has more on this.
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BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The former KGB colonel and the Kremlin could now be doing some important intelligence gathering on his American counterpart. Diplomatic sources tell CNN, President Trump and Vladimir Putin are planning a crucial one-on-one meeting, that it could happen in the coming weeks, sometime around the NATO summit in mid-July.
It's got analysts concerned, knowing that Trump's style is to go into these meetings winging it. The president even bragged about that before his summit with Kim Jong-un.
TRUMP: I don't think I don't have to prepare very much. It's about attitude. It's about willingness to going to things done.
TODD (voice-over): Putin, by contrast, according to one former intelligence official, will go into this meeting meticulously prepared.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Obviously he's a very good operator in and of himself but his staff will have done a deep psychological analysis of Trump and will be looking for ways to either take advantage of his ego or other things he's trying to do, really play up to that idea that, you know, Putin and Trump can do things together, they can make things happen, they can seal a deal.
TODD (voice-over): While Trump's style of going with his gut has won him praise for establishing a personal dialogue with different-to- crack leaders like Putin and Kim, experts are worried that Putin might persuade an unprepared Trump to give up concessions that aren't in America's interests.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think there's a possibility that he could give implicit recognition to the Assad regime, something that the United States has opposed for several years. I think there's also a possibility that he could indirectly and force Ukraine to make concessions.
TODD (voice-over): Putin is a master at playing mind games during these meetings, from his own imposing body language to make his counterparts cringe. In 2007, knowing German chancellor Angela Merkel was terrified of dogs, Putin brought his huge black Labrador, Connie, into the room.
Putin smirked. Merkel put on a brave face.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She did not blink because she understands the Russian mindset. She knows that the Russians and, in this case, Vladimir Putin, want to play Russian chess with her, which means the person who blinks the first has lost.
TODD (voice-over): Now a key question, is there a Trump weakness that Putin might look to exploit?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He might actually play to the fear that Trump may have of looking stupid or of not being powerful and really kind of mention, you know, if we don't come out with an agreement here, we're both going to look weaker.
TODD: Given what just happened at the G7 summit in Canada, when President Trump angrily broke from his European allies to go and meet with Kim Jong-un, European officials are reportedly concerned that Trump might do the same thing at the NATO summit, that he'll be more interested in a meeting with Vladimir Putin than he will be with them. And that Putin could very well exploit that to drive a deeper wedge between the U.S. and its European allies -- Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
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CHURCH: A court in Sudan has commuted the death sentence of a teenager, who says she killed her husband as he tried to rape her a second time. But Noura Hussein's ordeal is far from over. And as our Nima Elbagir reports, her supporters say their fight isn't finished, either.
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NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: For those who have been fighting and supporting Noura Hussein in her bid to escape the hangman's noose in Sudan, this was the day that they prayed and hoped would come. Her charges have now been lowered to manslaughter and she's been sentenced by the appeals court to five years in jail in order to pay $18,000, the equivalent of $18,000 in compensation.
But the duit, blood money, as it's colloquially known in Sudan, may not feel as quite such a win because it still doesn't change the realities, not just for Noura but other young girls and women in Sudan, which is that marital rape continues to be legal.
What Noura went through could still happen, is still happening to girls and women across Sudan, a country which has one of the lowest legal ages of consent in the world, just 10 years old.
So for those who have fought for Noura, they tell us this is just the beginning. Not only will they push to repeal the sentence of five years handed down to Noura now, they're also going to keep fighting, so that Noura's case is not the exception, so that the law changes, so that no other girl or woman in Sudan has to suffer what Noura has gone through -- Nima Elbagir, CNN, London.
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CHURCH: It's not good news in the search for a group of teenage boys and their soccer coach. Bad weather is making any rescue difficult. But 13 people are missing in a cave in Northern Thailand. It is a labyrinth of tunnels and chambers, some blocked by recent heavy rain. Our Anna Coren joins us now live from Hong Kong with more on this.
So, Anna, what's the latest information you have on the search and rescue efforts for these 12 teenagers and their coach?
And what are authorities saying about whether --
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CHURCH: -- they think they can find them alive?
ANNA COREN, CNN HOST: Well, Rosemary, the search has resumed, despite really bad weather this morning. It has been torrential there in Chiang Rai, in Northern Thailand on the border of Myanmar. But despite that we understand the rain has eased and the search is now resumed.
They want helicopters up in the air, they want drones up in the air to do thermal imaging, to see whether they can find any body contact, heat contact, I should say. So if that is detected, then certainly there is a sign that these teenagers and their 25-year-old coach are still alive.
But we know that divers working around the clock on a 24-hour shift, Navy SEAL divers. You have police divers as well as other diving experts. They're all part of this team that are navigating this labyrinth of caves.
These caves stretch approximately 8 kilometers long, there are about 40 chambers and there are these narrow passageways connecting these chambers. What they think has happened is the soccer team and their coach entered the cave Saturday afternoon. And while they were in the cave, there was a flash flood.
The governor of Chiang Rai believes they're alive, that they have managed to get to a chamber, a pocket and that they are still alive. There is no proof, though, of that, Rosemary. There are real fears, though, that there may have been severe flooding and they could have potentially drowned.
CHURCH: All right, well, let's hope the thermal technology helps the rescue teams as they try to find these 12 boys and their coach. Many thanks to you, Anna Coren, appreciate it.
Well, the U.S. Supreme Court upholds Donald Trump's travel ban. Just ahead, what that could mean for his administration's policy and his fiery rhetoric for immigrants.
Plus, for days, a search and rescue ship carrying hundreds of migrants that's been stranded in the Mediterranean. But now it may finally have been tossed a lifeline. We'll have the details for you when we come back.
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CHURCH: A very warm welcome back to scene of the crime. I'm Rosemary Church. Wanted to update you now on the main stories we've been following.
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ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Back now to our top story, the highest court of the United States is siding with the Trump administration by upholding its controversial travel ban. The president once dismissed this particular ban as a watered down politically correct version of what he originally wanted. Now, during the campaign, this is what he said about who he wanted to ban. Take a listen.
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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Donald J. Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country's representatives can figure out what the hell is going on.
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CHURCH: Then in his first week in office, President Trump signed an executive order to temporarily ban entry from Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen. Courts quickly blocked that ban. And in March of last year, a second version was unveiled. This time Iraq was taken off the list. Courts blocked that version as well. Now, the version upheld by the Supreme Court on Tuesday is the third version. This one removed Sudan from the list and added Chad, North Korea, and Venezuela though Chad was later removed. Now, we want to bring in David Leopold to talk more about all of this. He's an immigration attorney and former President of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. Thank you so much for being with us.
DAVID LEOPOLD, IMMIGRATION ATTORNEY: Thanks for having me, Rosemary.
CHURCH: Now, even though this is the third version of what President Trump calls a watered down politically correct travel ban, he's still spinning this as a win for his administration. What's your reaction to first the Supreme Court decision overall and Mr. Trump's response to it?
LEOPOLD: Well, you know, Rosemary, it's a shameful day. It's a disgraceful decision. I chase this back to some of the darkest days of the 20th century. You know, ironically, in this decision, they technically overruled the Kuramoto decision which was the decision upholding the ability of the government to in turn Japanese-Americans in concentration camps during World War II, and that was overruled today. But as Judge Sotomayor in the dissenting opinion said really what you've done is traded one horrible decision for another. So, you know, the Supreme Court is supposed to be our guiding light toward liberty, towards the constitution, and today they failed the entire country.
CHURCH: Now, the Supreme Court did want to make it clear and very clear at that, that in upholding President Trump's travel ban that it was not endorsing past comments about Muslims made by Mr. Trump. I do want to just read what Chief Justice John Roberts said in his judgment. Plaintiffs argue that this president's words strike at fundamental standards of respect and tolerance in violation of our constitutional tradition. But the issue before us is not whether to denounce the statements. It is instead the significance of those statements in reviewing a presidential directive, neutral on its face addressing a matter within the core of executive responsibility. In doing so, we must consider not only the statements of a particular
president but also the authority of the presidency itself. So Justice Roberts is making clear that this decision is not a judgment on whether a president should talk or tweet the way Trump does, but a decision about whether Mr. Trump has the power to limit who comes into the country. And the court does believe the president does indeed have that power. So what's your response to that particular judgment and the legal argument behind that?
LEOPOLD: Right. Well, the problem with that legal argument is that the significance of the statement which Judge Roberts -- Justice Roberts said was important are -- these are very significant statements. They show an animus, a hatred towards Muslims. And there's a pattern and practice to these statements.
[02:35:03] They go back as you pointed out in the clip in the opening to the campaign days, and they were continued into the travel ban, the Muslim ban days in January of 2017 and then the president lamented after the first court struck down the first travel ban. He said, you know, I don't want to do a politically correct way. We should just ban, you know, he went back to the basics. So he clearly showed an animus. It's not about denouncing that animus. I understand what Justice Roberts said. But what Justice Roberts missed was that the significance of the President of the United States both as candidate and as a leader made statements of animus against Muslims. Those statements were ruthlessly transformed into policy. That is the problem. That is the issue that the court missed today.
CHURCH: All right. So this Supreme Court decision will empower Mr. Trump, we've already seen that. What impact might this have going forward do you think?
LEOPOLD: Well, look, obviously, the Supreme Court lifted the stay that the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals had put on the travel ban, the order blocking the travel ban last year. So immediately, there won't be much of a difference because it's already been in effect. But I think what it does is first of all sends the wrong signal to the world. It tells the world that we are not a tolerant nation, that we are willing to ban people because of religion, because of what they believe. That's the first time in the history of the country. But also significantly, you know, you've got Donald Trump claiming this amazing victory tonight. And what that tells him is that his bigotry and his disdain for discreet groups of people like Muslims, like Mexicans, like Latinos, women, for example, that that has value. And that he can use that in his leadership. That is the danger with respect to this particular president. Very sad day, very dark day for the United States today.
CHURCH: David Leopold, thank you so much for joining us. We appreciate it.
LEOPOLD: My pleasure. Thank you, Rosemary.
CHURCH: And we turn now to Southern Syria where a new regime offensive is displacing thousands of families. The United Nations says more than 45,000 civilians have fled rebel held areas in the Province of Daraa which is an area that has already suffered a humanitarian crisis. Daraa is located just to the north of Syria's border with Jordan. Now, Jordan says it can't allow anymore Syrian refugees in and is urging all parties to uphold a de-escalation agreement.
For five days, a search and rescue ship packed with hundreds of refugees and migrants has been stranded in the Mediterranean. But now, Italy's prime minister says the Lifeline will be allowed to dock in Malta. Italy, Malta, France, and Portugal are each agreeing to take in some of the migrants onboard. Now, this comes after another ship, the Aquarius was similarly stranded in international waters near Malta earlier this month after rescuing hundreds of African migrants. Spain finally took those migrants in.
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PEDRO SANCHEZ, PRIME MINISTER OF SPAIN (via translator): I think the important thing is to give a collective response to a collective challenge. And Spain will be a part of the collective response in the case of the Lifeline. But it has to be collective. It has to be European. It has to come from multiple countries.
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CHURCH: And five European politicians went aboard the Lifeline earlier this week to call attention to the plight of men, women, and children stranded on that vessel. One of them is Portugal's member of the European Parliament, Joao Pimenta Lopes and he joins us now from Brussels. Thank you so much for being with us. So please share with us, with our viewers right across the globe what all you saw on board that vessel.
JOAO PIMENTA LOPES, MEMBER OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: It was -- it was a very dire situation that we found on the vessel. It's going now for the sixth day that they are still in the Mediterranean waters. This is not a transport -- a passenger transport ship, so it's a safe search and rescue vessel. So it's not ready to accommodate this amount of people for such a long time. All the people -- there's more than 200 people were stranded on the -- on the deck of the vessel occupying every possible place and trying to have some shelter with the blankets that they have which is the most that they have for the -- for protection.
[02:40:02] The situation has worsened. The maritime conditions have worsened very much. And although, there had been several reports of European countries willing to receive them and even reports of the Maltese government receiving authorization for the disembarkment. The truth is that they are still at this moment in despair requesting for immediate access to a safe harbor. No more than three hours ago there was a request by the group because there are people in need of urgent medical attention and so the situation still is ongoing.
CHURCH: Yes. And as we reported, Italy's prime minister has said that the Lifeline can dock there in Italy and will actually be able to dock in Malta I should say, and there's a number of countries as you mentioned that will take these people in. But what are you planning to do about the plight of these and other migrants and refugees on board vessels like this?
LOPES: We are continuing to denounce these situations, so what is at stake at this moment in this part of the world in the Mediterranean is that to step over the maritime law and the international conventions that say what needs to be done in a safe search and rescue operation. This is the policies the U.N. is following at this moment. The policies that are seeking to criminalize both the migrants and those that are in the waters taking the responsibilities that the member state should be taking by themselves.
So at this point in time, any vessel not only the search and rescue operation vessels from these NGOs that are in the Mediterranean will think twice before taking people aboard which are in distress at sea because they face a situation of days and days before being allowed to disembark with these people. This happened also with the Alexander (INAUDIBLE) another vessel -- commercial vessel which was allowed to disembark in Italy finally one and a half days ago. But that was also stranded in the Mediterranean for more than four days.
CHURCH: Is there a long-term solution to these endless number of displaced people trying to find a home somewhere in Europe when no one really appears to want them?
LOPES: This is a problem of solidarity. What we have been witnessing unfortunately is the rejection by the European Union and most of its member states of the sheer humanity values that should guide Europe, and the denial even of the international conventions regarding asylum for instance. But the U.N. is doing in deepening these policies of militarization of the Mediterranean of extra militarization of its borders. More restrictive policies towards asylum seekers and pushing to mainly Northern African countries agreements like the one that -- the one that was made with Turkey in 2016 which the fact in reality is an agreement to repeal these movements and to keep hundreds of thousands of people in very difficult situations.
Most of these people are aboard the Lifeline were telling us of the very violent situation that they found in Libya. There were human traffic. Many of them were sell -- sold as slaves and this is a situation that is even being in large with the policies that the E.U. is taking at this moment. We must not forget that even at the peak of the migration flow in 2015, it was a very short percentage of the total E.U. population that we were talking about, 0.2 percent of this population in what is the second largest economy in the world.
[02:44:54] So we must question ourselves if this major power which is the E.U. Which has also responsibilities in the situations that lead for these people to seek and to flee their homes. If this has not the capacity to integrate these people, what other part of the world will have the capacity to do so?
CHURCH: Yes. It is a tragedy the world is watching unfold, and unfortunately, nobody appears to care at this time. Joao Pimenta Lopes, thank you so much for joining us with preview.
LOPES: Thank you.
CHURCH: And we'll take a very short break. We'll be back in a moment.
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CHURCH: Argentina have made it through to the knockout round in the World Cup. But Brazil is facing a key test on the coming hours. And CNN "WORLD SPORT" anchor Patrick Snell, joins me in the studio now to talk more about this. Argentina they early got sent home. How did they pull this off?
PATRICK SNELL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They were four minutes away. And the answer to your question is not Lionel Messi, although he did have a much-improved game. He did score a wonderful first goal. Speaking of which, I need to get straight to it because it was a wonderful game against Nigeria.
Nigeria will feel pretty hard done by, I would imagine it was a valiant effort but in the end, they were undone by the late, late show.
So much attention on Lionel Messi in this game. I just want to highlight his first goal. Because he'd come under quite a bit of flak for his performances so far. But the control, the touch, and the finish, absolutely sublime their wonderful first goal of the game.
And then, look at this he's sort of rallying the troops taking the role as a leader in a big way, this is at the halftime break. But, I don't think the Nigerian team kind of read the script, because they would equalize that surely after the halftime restart, Victor Moses with the penalty. And then, we were all set up with some real drama as described now by Argentinian radio.
What a strike from Marcos Rojo, the Manchester United defender. The winning goal, four minutes from time, Rosemary, not from superstars like Leonel Messi, Gonzalo Higuain or Sergio Aguero. You can see what it means to the fans. And that's the head coach talk as some foul making a rough strange exit on the full-time.
Whistle just disappears down the tunnel, there's been speculation after his relationship with the squad. At the -- when emotion there, Angel Di Maria's face really getting to these Argentine players. They really have been under a lot of pressure, but they get the job done and they are through to the round of 16 where they'll face the French National Team.
And I want to pick up on a story about Diego Maradona, who won the World Cup with Argentina in 1986 at the Mexico Tournament. He was actually in the crowd, and let's just say his behavior has caught the attention of many.
From the moment we saw him when he's dancing with a Nigerian fan, he took us for a whole range of exhibitions including -- but his own way of celebrating the goal that Messi scored, then reacting to other incidents during the game, he did appear agitated and on edge at times then he made a kind of a disdainful gesture, as well.
And then, we got this video, we saw him actually appearing to need help, or needing help there to get up a flight of steps. He went afterwards onto social media saying he was fine even though he was checked by a doctor but the neck pain, but he did stress that he was not hospitalized in that one. So, that's Diego Maradona there and certainly plenty of attention on him as always, and lots of that social media reaction to that. But the bottom line, Argentina are through to the round of 16 and they'll be mightily relieved.
[02:51:12] CHURCH: Yes, no doubt for the fans there and the team.
SNELL: Yes.
CHURCH: Big day for Brazil and Germany, what the highlights there?
SNELL: Yes, Brazil? Five-time world champions. It's really interesting because you got them and Germany who are the defending champions. Both teams to start this tournament, Rosemary, we thought they were going to leave through their group stages but that has not been the case at all. And both of them that will face that nervy, nervy ones later on today.
Germany, taking on South Korea. Basically, the Germans need to improve on whatever results, Sweden get against Mexico's El Tricolor, so that's going to be really interesting. Germany, of course, had that really dramatic reprieve against Sweden.
The weekend when Toni Kroos scored in the fifth minute of stoppage time that very much keeps their hopes alive. And then, this Brazil, Neymar, have caused so much attention on the Brazilian National Team, they play Serbia, later. Basically, they need to avoid defeat to be sure a passage through to the last 16 at the tournament, it's all too playful.
CHURCH: That's the key, avoid defeat.
SNELL: Yes.
CHURCH: All right, Patrick Snell, let's talk next hour.
SNELL: Yes, let's do that.
CHURCH: All right, wonderful. Coming up, Donald Trump trolled in a new video by a Russian who's been linked to the U.S. president. We'll explain when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
A fake Donald Trump takes center stage in a racy video courtesy of a Russian who has ties to the real Mr. Trump. Here's CNN Sara Murray.
SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: The Russian pop star who helps facilitate the 2016 meeting between Donald Trump Jr. and the Russians at Trump Tower, taking a cheeky jab at President Trump. Emin Agalarov new music video titled Got Me Good, feature the risk a roundup of encounters with Trump family lookalike.
From Agalarov, and a Trump impersonator partying in a hotel room with bikini-clad women, to a fake Ivanka. Trump accepting a mysterious briefcase from Agalarov.
Agalarov, the son of a billionaire Russian real-estate developer came under scrutiny for encouraging his publicist, Rob Goldstone to contact Trump Jr. about a meeting with a Russian lawyer offering up dirt on Hillary Clinton. "If it's what you say. I love it." Trump Jr. replied, "It culminated in a June 2016 meeting including top Trump officials like Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort.
One year later, after the meeting came to light, it sparked a deeper dive into Trump years-long relationship with the Agalarov. Back in 2013, the real Trump partied with the Agalarov's when they helped Trump bring the Miss Universe pageant to Moscow.
The music video nods to the salacious but unproven claims about Trump's activities on the trip documented in the dossier that has dogged the president.
The images of a Trump impersonator alongside the scantily dressed women in the hotel room particularly suggested after Trump's longtime bodyguard, Keith Schiller, testified to lawmakers that he rejected an offer from Agalarov's circle to send women to Trump's Moscow hotel room during the trip.
At the time, Trump declared the Russia trip a success. Tweeting at the elder Agalarov, "I had a great weekend with you and your family. You have done a fantastic job. Trump Tower Moscow is next. Emin was wow."
The project never came to fruition but has emerged as another area of interest in the Mueller probe. Crammed with racy references, the three-minute music video features faux appearances from Hillary Clinton, porn star Stormy Daniels and Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg. As a shadowy figure abuse, Trump's encounters apparently all under surveillance, he edit Trump out of the footage. All of this under the watchful eye of none other than a look-alike of North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un.
Now, this latest pop song probably will not be the hit of the summer but it does give you a sense of how the Russia investigation, the one President Trump has called a witch hunt continues to haunt him. Sara Murray, CNN, Washington.
[02:55:43] CHURCH: Oh, Donald Trump is taking some new shots at late- night talk show host in the United States. He singled out Jimmy Fallon, who apologized recently for humanizing Mr. Trump when he messed up his hair during the campaign in 2016.
The president couldn't resist firing back during a campaign rally, Monday night in South Carolina.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Jimmy Fallon, apologized. He apologized for humanizing me. Can you add the poor guy? Because now he's going to lose all of us. He's like a nice guy. He's lost, he looks like a lost soul. The guy on CBS is what a low-life -- what a low life. I mean, honestly, are these people funny?
AMERICAN CROWD: No!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Well, it's no surprise. The late-night comedians didn't take those comments lying down. Here's how they responded.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIMMY FALLON, HOST, THE TONIGHT SHOW STARRING JIMMY FALLON, NBC: Did you see Trump's rally last night?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nope.
FALLON: Me either. But he said some pretty bad stuff about us.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Really? That doesn't sound like him.
FALLON: I heard he said we're all no-talent, low life, lost souls.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, that's not right, that's Conan. Hold up, I'll get him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, hey, guys. What's up?
FALLON: (INAUDIBLE), president, who?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Trump. Donald Trump. The real-estate guy who sell stakes.
FALLON: He's president?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
FALLON: Wow. How's he doing?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not so good.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, guys, give him time, OK? And remember, please be civil, for not careful this thing could start to get ugly.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: That's just a taste of what they had to say. Thanks so much for joining us. I'm Rosemary Church. Remember to connect with me anytime on Twitter. I'll be back with another hour of news in just a moment. You're watching CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHURCH: After two failed attempts, Donald Trump's travel ban finally gets the go-ahead from the U.S. Supreme Court. More on who's affected and international reaction through the ruling, coming up.
